Some U.S. students seeking gender-affirming care at McGill affected by Trump order, trans group says

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]A trans rights group says policy from the Trump administration in the US is responsible for some students at McGill University losing access to gender affirming care. The group says some American trans students are being denied hormone replacement therapy by the university's medical clinic. And the group says it's all because of Donald Trump. The Montreal Trans Patient Union or TPU holds regular meetings with doctors from McGill's clinic known as the Student Wellness Hub. The TPU says at a meeting in March, doctors from the clinic told them about a new policy.

[00:00:37]Basically what the hub said is that they wouldn't be prescribing HRT a hormone to uh American citizens who were under 19 um because of the executive order that Donald Trump issued in the US.

[00:00:53]>> The executive order she's talking about was one of the first issued by Donald Trump just after he was inaugurated.

[00:01:00]>> With a stroke of my pen, on day one, we are going to stop the transgender lunacy. Trump said his executive order would protect children from what he called chemical and surgical mutilation.

[00:01:13]The order imposes consequences on professionals and institutions who provide gender affirming care such as HRT to minors. That executive order has no authority in Canada and shouldn't apply to Canadian doctors. But there's been some confusion about that, mainly because of this. The US government has an online whistleblower form where people can report health care professionals who are providing gender affirming care to children to US authorities. The original online form included a drop- down menu option to identify health care professionals from Canadian provinces and territories in addition to US states. That drop- down menu has since been changed to include only US states, although it still includes an option for Canadian postal codes. The TPU says doctors from McGill's clinic specifically mentioned this whistleblower form when explaining why they would no longer provide HRT to US students who were under 19. They had two concerns I think mainly first of all was that there would be some possibility of legal action against the hub which seems incredibly unlikely. Um, and then the other possibility they brought up was that uh it might be difficult for doctors at the hub to cross the border um because of the current political climate.

[00:02:35]>> She says the doctors at McGill told the TPU at the meeting they'd already denied HRT to two trans students from the US who were under 19 because of this and that that would be the policy from now on. We spoke to another person from the TPU who was at the meeting and confirmed this. That person asked not to be identified because they're a US citizen and they fear being targeted by US authorities or anti-trans activists.

[00:03:01]They noted international students at McGill are obliged to pay into a health care plan that gives them access to care at the wellness hub.

[00:03:09]>> If you're a American um an international student, um the wellness hub is really your only option for getting HRT in um in a timely way. It's definitely upsetting because this is something that uh shouldn't be happening. Like I think it's definitely it sets a dangerous precedent.

[00:03:31]>> We asked McGill about this. They replied with a statement saying gender affirming care is available to students including international students. But the statement also says doctors at the clinic receive guidance on certain issues from a group called the Canadian Medical Protective Association. It provides legal advice and assistance to member physicians across the country.

[00:03:54]McIll's statement says, "With respect to questions about specific clinical practices or recommendations, including those affecting patients from the US under the age of 19, the CMPA is best placed to confirm and explain the guidance provided to physicians." So, we contacted the CMPA who told us their advice provided to member physicians is considered confidential. We also reached out directly to doctors at McGill's wellness hub to see if they could explain what was going on. They refused to comment. The TPU says McGill needs to explain.

[00:04:30]>> I think it's definitely important for them to acknowledge what's been going on because the way they're currently treating this, it's kind of uh covert.

[00:04:39]Um, and so we know that this is something that they're aware about. It's just something not something that they're publicly talking about. Another trans activist says McGill should reverse the policy and apologize. She says there's no way Migill should be letting Donald Trump dictate healthc care policy on its campus.

[00:04:59]>> We have to stand up for ourselves and not bow down to American policies because Canada is its own country and unlike in the US where idol where ideology can supersede science, here in Canada science must see what prevails.

[00:05:14]We also asked Quebec's College of Physicians about this. The college says it doesn't have enough information to comment on this case, but that its code of ethics clearly states that doctors can't refuse to treat a patient based on their nationality. The college also says if it is true that McGill is denying care to trans students under age 19 based on US law, that would be quote a situation of concern.